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Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apoth The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of the black hole. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time, the quest for the theory of everything. Elegant, witty, and enlightening, Zero is a compelling look at the strangest number in the universe and one of the greatest paradoxes of human thought.

The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apoth The Babylonians invented it, the Greeks banned it, the Hindus worshipped it, and the Church used it to fend off heretics. For centuries, the power of zero savored of the demonic; once harnessed, it became the most important tool in mathematics. Zero follows this number from its birth as an Eastern philosophical concept to its struggle for acceptance in Europe and its apotheosis as the mystery of the black hole. Today, zero lies at the heart of one of the biggest scientific controversies of all time, the quest for the theory of everything. Elegant, witty, and enlightening, Zero is a compelling look at the strangest number in the universe and one of the greatest paradoxes of human thought.

30 review for
Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

5 out of 5

Trevor–Oct 18, 2009

I’m not sure if this book quite worked out what it wanted to be. Besides getting to say, ‘and that is the power of zero’, over and over again it wasn’t quite sure where it should pitch itself and the guy writing it was never quite certain how much back knowledge he could rely on his audience actually having. This meant subjects were generally treated too cursory so I was left thinking ‘wait a second, what happened there?’. His discussion of Gauss was very complicated and hard to follow (not near I’m not sure if this book quite worked out what it wanted to be. Besides getting to say, ‘and that is the power of zero’, over and over again it wasn’t quite sure where it should pitch itself and the guy writing it was never quite certain how much back knowledge he could rely on his audience actually having. This meant subjects were generally treated too cursory so I was left thinking ‘wait a second, what happened there?’. His discussion of Gauss was very complicated and hard to follow (not nearly as interesting as Euclid's Window The Story of Geometry from Parallel Lines to Hyperspace – A book I mentally compared this to throughout) but then, bizarrely, he went into a fairly detailed description of the Doppler effect, for instance. This book would have benefited from being edited by someone who knew virtually nothing about science. And they could have written on the sides of the page either ‘oh, I see’ or ‘WTF?’
There are many interesting little bits to all this that made it worthwhile, though – the stuff on Pythagoras was interesting – I didn’t know he didn’t eat beans because they make people fart and because they look like little genitals (I’ve never really looked closely enough at beans to notice this resemblance, to be honest, but it does sound as good a reason for a food aversion as any other, I guess). I also didn’t know he was killed because he refused to cross a field of beans (makes my rantings about only going into McDonalds to use their toilets – I only make deposits, no withdrawals - sound perfectly enlightened, if you ask me).
There were also interesting bits about vanishing points being zeros and therefore the relationship between space and zero being something non-trivial – but all of that stuff is handled much more interestingly in The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace A History of Space from Dante to the Internet (even if I still have problems with the last bits of that book).
Look, it wasn’t a bad book – but I felt it struggled due to feeling it had to make zero the core concept of all of science. This is a trend in this sort of book – you know, pick something (nutmeg or coffee or space) and show it as the nexus through which all strands of the universe can be understood. Generally, this is handled better than it has been handled here though.
PS - I hadn't realised this is the same guy who wrote Decoding the Universe How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes - suddenly, things make much more sense.

5 out of 5

Gene–Apr 12, 2007

A book about numbers that had me laughing out loud while I was on vacation. My wife could not understand how a book about math could make me laugh so much...
But any book that shows the horrible mistake that not having a Year 0 (i.e., 1 BC and 1 AD are adjancent) would have on history as well as subtraction mistakes, how infinity is really is zero's tricky friend, and make almost understandable the reason why the amazing equation "e ^ (pi * i) = -1" is true is pretty fantastic.
I laughed, I cried. A book about numbers that had me laughing out loud while I was on vacation. My wife could not understand how a book about math could make me laugh so much...
But any book that shows the horrible mistake that not having a Year 0 (i.e., 1 BC and 1 AD are adjancent) would have on history as well as subtraction mistakes, how infinity is really is zero's tricky friend, and make almost understandable the reason why the amazing equation "e ^ (pi * i) = -1" is true is pretty fantastic.
I laughed, I cried. Amazing book.

4 out of 5

Usha–May 26, 2020

It's a fascinating and an affirming read. It's difficult to understand any regiment of mathematics and physics without the number zero. Seife reveals, how it's acceptance took time, overcoming of religious and cultural preconceptions and other serious appraisals and tribulations. Without zero, there be no calculus, algebra, astronomy, quantum physics nor understanding of space, beginning and end of the universe, black holes, vacuum and the list goes on into infinity.

5 out of 5

Tania–Mar 02, 2018

Zero is quite an undertaking - the author attacks this microhistory with an ambitious goal: to explain how zero came to be, and how it has factored into math and science, and even the dawn of the universe, from the beginning of time. That's a lot to cover. I respect Seife's attempts to make the text more interesting to the layman, but in my opinion the infused excitement is a bit much. Still, there's a ton of information to be found in this book, and it is pretty interesting to see how drastical Zero is quite an undertaking - the author attacks this microhistory with an ambitious goal: to explain how zero came to be, and how it has factored into math and science, and even the dawn of the universe, from the beginning of time. That's a lot to cover. I respect Seife's attempts to make the text more interesting to the layman, but in my opinion the infused excitement is a bit much. Still, there's a ton of information to be found in this book, and it is pretty interesting to see how drastically math and science changed over the centuries.

5 out of 5

Kathrynn–Mar 08, 2010

Wow! A tremendous amount of information is packed between the cover pages of this little book. I had no idea zero created such controversy--in religion and math/science.
Fascinating facts about how our calendar system is ahead by a year BECAUSE we should have begun with year zero, not one. So, when December 31, 1999 came around, true mathematicians didn't celebrate the millenium until December 31, 2000. The Mayan's had the calendar system figured out. They started with zero, but didn't call it t Wow! A tremendous amount of information is packed between the cover pages of this little book. I had no idea zero created such controversy--in religion and math/science.
Fascinating facts about how our calendar system is ahead by a year BECAUSE we should have begun with year zero, not one. So, when December 31, 1999 came around, true mathematicians didn't celebrate the millenium until December 31, 2000. The Mayan's had the calendar system figured out. They started with zero, but didn't call it that.
Interesting, because we do consider some things as zero, i.e., babies are not born and then automatically considered to be 1 year old. They are 1 month, 6 months, etc, then they are 1. Makes sense.
I enjoyed how the author used examples that I could relate to when explaining thermodynamics, quantum physics, time-travel, black holes (wormholes), etc. Enjoyed the e (calculus), too.
A lot of historical information about our number system is enclosed in this book, e.g., where the word Algebra came from. There are also names, theories, dates and some interesting stories to help bring the time period(s) to life.
Appendix E: How to Make Your Own Wormhole (time machine) was humorous.
The last chapters dove into physics, time-travel, black holes, our galaxy, how the star distances were measured, how the universe came to be (big bang theory) and how it may end, how we can travel vast distances on little fuel. It was very complicated, but I now understand why we haven't been able to do it yet. The universe is still expanding. Some galaxies are speeding further away from us. There are still large hunks of nothing in space. The author goes into what is going on with our sun. Einstein and his theories are throughout the book, too.
Interestingly, all this ties right into zero. A black hole is zero. Vast nothingness. How zero and God correlate.
Great book!
5 Star Favorite!

4 out of 5

Jeb–May 08, 2007

Zero is the story of the number, the time that elapsed before its acceptance, and how the ideas behind it (the void and its opposite, infinity) shook the ideals of religion and science across the globe. The book advances through time chronologically, from the Greek philosophers through Renaissance paintings through Einstein's relativity, ending with speculations on string theory. And yes, all of this is fantasia on the theme of the number zero.
I didn't expect this book to be so math-heavy and so Zero is the story of the number, the time that elapsed before its acceptance, and how the ideas behind it (the void and its opposite, infinity) shook the ideals of religion and science across the globe. The book advances through time chronologically, from the Greek philosophers through Renaissance paintings through Einstein's relativity, ending with speculations on string theory. And yes, all of this is fantasia on the theme of the number zero.
I didn't expect this book to be so math-heavy and sort of resented the reintroduction to the Rule of L'Hopital. But overall I found this to be an enjoyable read. My favorite parts were the discoveries of the old Greek musicians and the artists who moonlighted as math dudes. The first section of the book reminded me of that one Donald Duck cartoon [(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_i...)].
In my opinion, the ideal audience for this book is kids who are just about to take calculus, because Zero makes the math is both applicable and fun. But also an interesting read for adults. Just be warned that part of this book involves a journey back to high school math equations.

4 out of 5

TK Keanini–Apr 12, 2007

I agree that this was a great book. When I was reading it, I thought what a wonderful experience it would be if the walls between Mathmatics, History, Social Science, and English weren't so high, this type of learning could take place in a middle school setting. If I had read this book when i was in middle school, I would have been wagging my tail in math class every day.

5 out of 5

Jenny–Jun 10, 2014

Another one of the best books that I've read recently. Seife does an excellent job of turning zero into a subject. It is a number, and it is an idea; it is a troublemaker, and it is a problem solver. The biography is very interesting, beginning with history and philosophy and ending with science and the modern age.
I enjoyed the actual writing of the book: clear and easy to follow, slightly humorous at times (in a Stephen Hawking kind of way), and clever. I like the chapter titles (beginning with Another one of the best books that I've read recently. Seife does an excellent job of turning zero into a subject. It is a number, and it is an idea; it is a troublemaker, and it is a problem solver. The biography is very interesting, beginning with history and philosophy and ending with science and the modern age.
I enjoyed the actual writing of the book: clear and easy to follow, slightly humorous at times (in a Stephen Hawking kind of way), and clever. I like the chapter titles (beginning with Chapter Zero and ending with Chapter Infinity) and the fact that Seife is not biased. He simply conveys historical and scientific fact, not allowing his opinions to leak through his words. I don't like when scientists make it obvious that they're not only proving theories but also trying to disprove God. Seife never does that--he just presents ideas and explains how zero went from being reviled and feared to respected to something that needs to be erased once more.
My only critique is that the first part of the book is very easy to understand, but during the second half when Seife discusses modern mathematics and science, the narrative becomes more difficult to follow if the reader isn't a calculus major or a physicist (neither of which I am...). Still, there are nice illustrations that make Seife's points clearer.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the idea of zero, its origins and usefulness, its place in the world, or to anyone who loves math and science.

5 out of 5

David–Feb 01, 2009

This book made me want to actually learn calculus. At least until the brain fever wore off. :)

5 out of 5

huydx–Sep 11, 2017

Very cool book, it covers many interesting facts.

5 out of 5

Kara Babcock–Jan 23, 2010

My grade 11 math teacher gave this to me, and I remember reading it and loving it. Here I am, three years later, returning to Zero for a second read. No longer the gullible high school student (now a gullible university student!), I'm apt to be more critical of Zero. Nevertheless, it stands up to a second reading and both inspires and informs.
Imagining a world without zero is probably difficult for most people. It was especially difficult for me, as a mathematician who grew up learning calculus My grade 11 math teacher gave this to me, and I remember reading it and loving it. Here I am, three years later, returning to Zero for a second read. No longer the gullible high school student (now a gullible university student!), I'm apt to be more critical of Zero. Nevertheless, it stands up to a second reading and both inspires and informs.
Imagining a world without zero is probably difficult for most people. It was especially difficult for me, as a mathematician who grew up learning calculus and understanding that zero is just another number. Even with Charles Seife leading the way in the first chapter, I still have trouble comprehending this idea that entire civilizations rose and fell—and achieved great things in between—without the concept of a mathematical zero.
In that respect, Zero acts as a history of the development of an idea, one that began in Babylonia and spread, via Alexander the Great, to India, where it flourished. Seife's history is necessarily balanced between East and West in this case, as it's impossible to discuss mathematics without discussing India. That being said, I would have liked to learn about how China regarded zero, even if Chinese mathematicians contributed no new developments to the number's importance as their absence from this book seems to imply. This one oversight overlooked, Zero is not your typical history book that starts in ancient Egypt or Greece and insists everything we know flows from there.
What's admirable about Zero is Seife's ability to focus on zero. The story intersects with the lives of many famous mathematicians, but the obvious slimness of this book testifies that Seife managed to distill only what was necessary about their lives in his quest to explain the mystery of zero. I'm not trying to imply, "Short books are easier for non-mathematical people to understand," but that's part of the attraction. Although it's heavier on the equations than I remembered, I would still feel comfortable recommending Zero to my non-mathematically-inclined friends. Firstly, Seife's writing is accessible, even when loaded with equations. As long as you have some basic arithmetic left over from high school, you can follow along. And I'd definitely recommend this book to high school students, like I was when I first read it: it's one of those books that opens the mind. Secondly, the narrow focus acts like a window into the history of mathematics. I have A History of Mathematics sitting next to Zero on my desk, and while the former is more complete, I somehow suspect the latter is more appropriate for a general audience. In other words, Zero is a good gateway drug.
Where Zero starts to show its seams is in Seife's rhetorical ability, which stretches itself thin even over so thin a volume. He's too dramatic for my taste, especially as he recounted the attitudes and fate of the Pythagoreans. And he's always eager to remind us of how "powerful" zero is. While I agree that zero is a pretty cool number, the constant refrain felt somewhat forced after a while, pulling me out of the book instead of keeping me comfortably ensconced in this little tutorial. Seife devotes only cursory glances at the philosophical arguments offered for or against the acceptance of zero; he tells us about Aristotle's rejection of zero but goes into little detail. While I'm sure he wanted to avoid turning the book into a text on Aristotelian philosophy, I feel like there are gaps here that, if not filled, could have been covered with a more attractive carpet.
Not perfect, not as mind-blowing as some mathematical literature I've read, Zero makes it mark because it's adequate at explanation without going overboard. I'm not sure what else to say: if you're interested in the subject, this is a good place to start. And even if you're not, hey, it's only 250 pages. What have you got to lose? Nothing. Zero!

4 out of 5

drea –Oct 18, 2011

Well, well, well, math. So we meet again. I have done a fantastic job avoiding you for the last ten years, but I knew it couldn't last forever. Still, I wasn't expecting you to come for me in the guise of a pick for our book club. Well played, math. Well. Played.
Basically, I think this is probably a fine book and worthy of more than the "It was okay" rating I am giving. It has lots of pictures and illustrations and appendices, and I am assuming that they mean something. One of them, in theory, Well, well, well, math. So we meet again. I have done a fantastic job avoiding you for the last ten years, but I knew it couldn't last forever. Still, I wasn't expecting you to come for me in the guise of a pick for our book club. Well played, math. Well. Played.
Basically, I think this is probably a fine book and worthy of more than the "It was okay" rating I am giving. It has lots of pictures and illustrations and appendices, and I am assuming that they mean something. One of them, in theory, even explains how through the power of the dangerous zero, you can make an equation that proves Winston Churchill is a carrot. I would have truly liked to understand that! However, nowhere in this book does Donald Duck leap out of the pages and explain the The Golden Ratio to you a la Mathmagic Land, and that proved to be the downfall of this book and me. Not gonna lie--when I got to the section about calculus, I was overcome by the the old feeling of having a test the next day and not knowing what a differential equation was, and maybe Mr. Taylor would make it a group test and I could force my ex-boyfriend to be my partner and not have to know? God, that's going be a hard email to write. STRESS. STRESS.
Where was I? Oh yes. All that said, the early chapters did come with some interesting history sprinkled around all of the equations. I never really noticed the links of old-school Judeo-Christian thought to Aristotle and his rejection of the infinite or the void. I also never realized that the Catholic Church was actually embracing new thinkers until Martin Luther decided to upset the apple cart and they went scrambling back to their traditions and finger-pointing at heretics. These sections were a little textbookish and occasionally hyperbolic ("Zero is dangerous! Zero will ROCK YOUR WORLD. Zero may kill your children!") but I think the info will stick with me.
But, in the end, if a=level of book enjoyment, and b=feelings of stupidity, and c=interesting tidbits, then A = c-b will probably give you a negative number . . . which I know we only have thanks to Eastern thought! Also, Winston Churchill is a carrot.

4 out of 5

Tim–Feb 25, 2009

Seife, a science writer, leads us down the rabbit hole we term 'zero'. The mathematical history of the number follows a convoluted path, early on a place-holder in counting systems or a much-feared void forbidden by belief on pain of death. Eventually the path leads to infinity which, like its twin zero, figures the limit of human experience. For Seife this means that nature - described in its native language of mathematics - breaks completely with possible human experience at zero and infinity. Seife, a science writer, leads us down the rabbit hole we term 'zero'. The mathematical history of the number follows a convoluted path, early on a place-holder in counting systems or a much-feared void forbidden by belief on pain of death. Eventually the path leads to infinity which, like its twin zero, figures the limit of human experience. For Seife this means that nature - described in its native language of mathematics - breaks completely with possible human experience at zero and infinity. Yet the need to confront these limits and by increments bring them within the space of the humanly possible is the impulse behind this book. Short as it is, the first two thirds of the work provide an engaging survey of the development and application of 'zero' in mathematics. A substantial part of its current conception is bound up in the development of the calculus which underlies so much of mathematical physics. Relativity theory and the development of thermodynamics spurred further application of the concept in theories of nature. Nonetheless, singularities represent limits to what we know and perhaps can know, as well as what we can do. Zero's enigmatic presence in our thoughts is a gateway to the speculative, sometimes nearly mystical suppositions in a scientific vein that take up the final third of the work. Zero, in Seife's account, is a main character in a story about mathematics and physical science. But his account of the concept as an artifact of culture and of language may offer some additional insight. For example, in common English usage, zero is nothing apart from comparison. The activity of comparing and by extension of measuring is part of this odd number which happens to be even.

5 out of 5

Melissa Jeanette–Sep 15, 2011

One of the most fascinating books I've read. After reading the first two chapters, I knew I wanted to own it, and I will definitely be buying a copy. I never thought I'd say this about any book having to do with science or math, but this is one of those books that I could turn around and re-read immediately after finishing it. In fact, I might wait a couple days before returning it to the library just so I can read at least the first couple chapters again.
As a side note, toward the end of The A One of the most fascinating books I've read. After reading the first two chapters, I knew I wanted to own it, and I will definitely be buying a copy. I never thought I'd say this about any book having to do with science or math, but this is one of those books that I could turn around and re-read immediately after finishing it. In fact, I might wait a couple days before returning it to the library just so I can read at least the first couple chapters again.
As a side note, toward the end of The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science, the author says that he believes students learning about science should also learn about the people behind the discoveries of science and how they made their discoveries. I wholeheartedly agree. For one thing, I've found that learning the reasons why people wanted answers to scientific questions has made the science much more interesting. The stories behind the science are also often quite dramatic or even tragic and therefore memorable. These stories give the scientific data a context that makes it easier to remember. And this isn't really too surprising, is it? After all, we've been storytellers for nearly as long as we've been walking upright. We make sense of the world through storytelling, so storytelling seems like an easy way to help make sense of science.

5 out of 5

Philip Mann–Aug 21, 2017

You have to love a book that has a section giving instructions on how to build your own wormhole-time machine. All you need to do is build a wormhole and attach one end of it to something very heavy and attach the other end to something travelling at 90% of the speed of light. It gets easier from there, although you do have to wait forty six years and haul the thing to another planet.
The author takes a seemingly simple topic, then tells us how incredibly complex it really is, and then simplifie You have to love a book that has a section giving instructions on how to build your own wormhole-time machine. All you need to do is build a wormhole and attach one end of it to something very heavy and attach the other end to something travelling at 90% of the speed of light. It gets easier from there, although you do have to wait forty six years and haul the thing to another planet.
The author takes a seemingly simple topic, then tells us how incredibly complex it really is, and then simplifies it again. Yes, there are pages of equations, some of which I actually understood. But it was a fun read, and he shows how the infinite can be unimaginably large or infinitely small, and how they need each other.
The author tells us how this mathematical debate becomes one with the religious debate about the nature of God, and whether He has limits. We see how the ancients Greeks took their debates seriously indeed, and the price of having an unpopular opinion was far worse that getting hateful text messages.
Seife tells us about that ancient riddle, about some creature walking one half the distance to a certain point, one jaunt at a time, and in theory can never reach the end, and shows us the single flaw in that argument. Otherwise, we could never get anywhere.
As I said, this is a very entertaining book, and the equations shouldn't stop the curious reader.

4 out of 5

Michele–Feb 16, 2010

The science geek in me absolutely loved this book. It was fascinating to see how the idea of zero could have such incredible effects on everything from religion to art to physics. I also thought the author did an excellent job of writing this in a way that is accessible to the non-scientific mind. Definitely glad I picked it up!

5 out of 5

Megan–Jul 11, 2011

An intriguing topic but not a particularly well-told story. The author clearly believes that zero and infinity are somehow dangerous and mystical, and I guess there's some evidence that mathematical philosophers have felt the same way over time. But for the most part, the general vibe of this book was, "Ooh, zero, how *mysterious*," and I wasn't really into that.

4 out of 5

Vicki Cline–Nov 25, 2018

The first chapters about how the idea of zero came into being were quite interesting. A farmer or herdsman doesn't need a number for no carrots or no sheep. The Babylonians created it as a placeholder for their numerical system, as we use it today to distinguish 41 from 401. Contemplating zero leads eventually to its inverse, infinity. Most of the book deals with the uses of zero and infinity in physics, astronomy and other sciences and I didn't find that as interesting.

5 out of 5

Tung–Jan 09, 2008

Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award honoring debut nonfiction from American authors, this book traces the history of the number zero from its initial appearances in Babylonian and Mayan mathematics to its widespread acceptance during the Renaissance to its role in advanced sciences. In addition to detailing the history of the number’s usage in the mathematics systems of various cultures, the book attempts to tie the concept of zero to more fundamental philosophical struggles that have accompa Winner of the PEN/Martha Albrand Award honoring debut nonfiction from American authors, this book traces the history of the number zero from its initial appearances in Babylonian and Mayan mathematics to its widespread acceptance during the Renaissance to its role in advanced sciences. In addition to detailing the history of the number’s usage in the mathematics systems of various cultures, the book attempts to tie the concept of zero to more fundamental philosophical struggles that have accompanied the mathematical changes – Aristotelian ethics to Hinduism to the Catholic Church/Copernicus/Galileo debates. The prose does a pretty good job of simplifying major philosophies and major mathematics concepts for the general reader, although about two-thirds of the way through, the history of zero reaches imaginary numbers and proceeds to quantum mechanics, and from then on, the concepts become fairly technical. The biggest problem with the book is that I think Seife doesn’t do an adequate job of convincing me that the number zero is as directly tied to the philosophical struggles of the times as he asserts. He makes the number zero synonymous with “void” and infinity synonymous with “eternity” and therefore mathematical arguments over zero and infinity are the same thing as religious debates over the creation of the universe and eternal destination. It is an extremely large jump that doesn’t come off as convincing. And the last third of the book is more focused on quantum mechanics and cosmology and sort of forgets about the philosophical struggles. An interesting history of the most important number, but not as dangerous an idea as Seife is trying to intimate. Recommended for those who enjoy pop math books.

5 out of 5

Kaion–Oct 22, 2009

0
+ ( It's a book about math. And I read it. ) - ( It took me nine months. )
= 0
For three weeks after I finished Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, its central figure looked out ominously at me. In that way, Charles Seife was entirely successful in this piece of pop-nonfiction, weaving together the creation of the "zero", its role in history of mathematical theory, its religious controversies, its philosophical significance and ultimately, its true place at the heart of the universe. It's t 0
+ ( It's a book about math. And I read it. ) - ( It took me nine months. )
= 0
For three weeks after I finished Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, its central figure looked out ominously at me. In that way, Charles Seife was entirely successful in this piece of pop-nonfiction, weaving together the creation of the "zero", its role in history of mathematical theory, its religious controversies, its philosophical significance and ultimately, its true place at the heart of the universe. It's to Seife's credit that he manages to weave out of these eclectic approaches a coherent story that borders at times upon the epic... while never being too important not to include an irreverent tangent about Pythagoras's acute dislike of beans.
If anything, Seife trends too sprightly at times. Though I admire his stance in neither dumbing down the material nor making it intimidating for the casual reader, at some point, no matter how breezily one explains black holes or the Casimir effect- there's no disguising that there are some vast concepts being covered. As it is, I believe you definitely have to at least of heard of some of these ideas (particularly in the last third) to enjoy the new contexts he weaves for them in his narrative. Myself, I sort of managed alright with some first year Calculus and Physics schooling.
I can't say I ever turned down the chance for more trivia, and Zero delivered in spades. Also, know this: the first appendix details a mathematical proof on why Winston Churchill is a carrot. Rating: 4 stars

4 out of 5

Jimmy Ele–May 21, 2017

Amazing book, especially when it gets to the topic of the significance of zero in mathematics and physics. The only improvement that would have made it better is if there were more known about the origin of zero, in particular the ancient Mayan and ancient Indian perspective on the number. Of course, we know that the information on the Mayan perspective was most likely burned by the Spaniards and as for the Indian perspective, perhaps it lies in an ancient scroll somewhere.

5 out of 5

Ensiform–Feb 17, 2012

A history of zero and its counterpart the infinite, two ideas that have been regarded as dangerous through the ages but which unlock the secrets to calculus and the universe. Most interesting is Pythagoras’ and Aristotle’s vehement rejections of the idea. The Catholic Church's insistence on Aristotelian thought held Western science and mathematics back for centuries.

4 out of 5

Claudia–May 19, 2013

One of the most interesting books I have read. It brings the story of zero, the number and its implications and effects on humankind, some of them unbelievable.

4 out of 5

Alexandra–Aug 14, 2017

This just makes me want to read all of the science and math books

4 out of 5

Menglong Youk–Sep 16, 2017

4.25/5 stars
"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife is more than just a math book; it's a history of zero and infinity, which the author constantly reminds readers of their resemblances from their birth, the controversial, and the indecisiveness of mathematicians, scientists, philosopher and theologians.
To theologians who unquestionably accepted Aristotlean concepts of nature, God or gods created the integers and fractions that appear in our everyday life from the golden ratio 4.25/5 stars
"Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife is more than just a math book; it's a history of zero and infinity, which the author constantly reminds readers of their resemblances from their birth, the controversial, and the indecisiveness of mathematicians, scientists, philosopher and theologians.
To theologians who unquestionably accepted Aristotlean concepts of nature, God or gods created the integers and fractions that appear in our everyday life from the golden ratio, pi, e, harmonic sequences, etc. So, when the concept of zero and infinity appeared, it didn't make any sense to them because God or gods are something, which mean nothing is nothing nor infinite; therefore they, the theologians, discouraged the usage of the concepts of zero and infinity, preventing them from reaching other scholars.
To many generations of mathematicians since the ancient Greece, they had been struggled to solve Zeno's paradoxes, which involve the concept of infinity, for many century until they realized that they could avoid the problem of infinity because there wasn't just one kind of infinity, but many: some divergence and some convergence. However, zero appeared once again in limit as zero decided by zero. Rather than ignoring the problem, they embraced zero and infinity as we learn in calculus, especially integration: the method of adding infinite zeroes to reach a finite number.
To physicists, astrophysicists and cosmologists, concept of zero and/or infinity appeared in thermodynamics, ultraviolet catastrophe, black hole, expending universe and the Big Bang. However, their fates are not like that of mathematicians. Physicists won't be able to reach absolute zero no matter how modern their technology will become: astrophysicists still have no clue what is happening inside black hole's singularity where enormous mass is embedded in an unimaginably small point in space, cosmologists [and theoretical physicists] still haven't found the theory of everything, whose goal is to combine Einstein's general theory of relativity with quantum mechanics. Without such theory, we would not be able to understand what happened at the instant of the Big Bang, the origin of our Universe and in the singularity of black hole.
I find this book surprisingly fascinating as I ventured into it expecting less than what it would give me. "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea," is not only recommended to those who like maths, but also those who don't since one does not need to like math in order to enjoy reading it because the book provides you much more than just boring math equations that you always avoided in school.
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4 out of 5

Riley Reinhard–Apr 18, 2018

This book is intended for all calculus and physics lovers who want to dive into the origins of every formula and concept they are familiar with. If one is not familiar with any calculus or physics concepts, they should not read this book. An avid calculus or physics student reading this book is sure to recognize everything from lessons in class, but this book ties it all together with mind-boggling explanations and a little humor on the side. For example, the reader will find that the actual mea This book is intended for all calculus and physics lovers who want to dive into the origins of every formula and concept they are familiar with. If one is not familiar with any calculus or physics concepts, they should not read this book. An avid calculus or physics student reading this book is sure to recognize everything from lessons in class, but this book ties it all together with mind-boggling explanations and a little humor on the side. For example, the reader will find that the actual meaning for calculus comes from the Greek word for "pebble," and this book explains why. Everything about this book was extremely deep, philosophical, and at times very hard to understand. This is why the diagrams and situational story problems are helpful. The book catches the reader off guard from the start with a very capturing introduction about the USS Yorktown's defeat and leaves the reader with butterflies in their stomach, aching to find out more about zero's powers. In addition to learning of these mathematical concepts, Zero also incorporates a great deal of historical stories and characteristics associated with ancient areas and different people of the world. This book requires avid (not passive) reading, meaning the reader should probably keep a spare pencil and paper on hand or take notes directly into the book in order to not fall behind or forget concepts. This book is extremely well-written, it provides information in chronological order, and it never gets boring.

4 out of 5

Amanda–May 29, 2020

This is a wildly interesting book about the number zero and some mathematical history in general. I have to admit that I started getting a little lost around the halfway point (where the book moves into more complicated math), but I still found it to be a good read. It's educational but also very entertaining.

4 out of 5

uɐɟɹI–May 18, 2020

I'm not really much into deep science and mathematics but this book was overall an exciting and informative read. It definitely has made me get interested in a subject which I was never much found of.
The basic premise of this book is that throughout history zero has shaped the world and minds of mankind. It is the basis of mathematics and logic, yet it holds the power to render them useless.
It has always been at the center of philosophical debate and has been used to both prove and disprove the I'm not really much into deep science and mathematics but this book was overall an exciting and informative read. It definitely has made me get interested in a subject which I was never much found of.
The basic premise of this book is that throughout history zero has shaped the world and minds of mankind. It is the basis of mathematics and logic, yet it holds the power to render them useless.
It has always been at the center of philosophical debate and has been used to both prove and disprove the existence of God. It is zero that consistently unlocks the secrets of the universe, and it can even be used to foresee the universe.

4 out of 5

Ashok Krishna–May 03, 2020

Expected a lot only to get disappointed. Lacks coherence in some places. At times tends to get too textbook like. The small font is quite a strain too. An okayish read overall. 2.5 stars!

5 out of 5

Eric Rasmussen–Feb 18, 2010

I was in the mood for some math (it had been so long since I read some pop-math literature), and Zero seemed like the perfect tome. Unfortunately, Zero is a little TOO pop-math - it hits on the same "interesting" math and physics tidbits that so many other pop-math and science books do. And while it relates all of its ideas to zero, it's not really about zero.
The first half does talk about the historical context of the concept of zero, but it is mostly about philosophy - how the concepts of zero I was in the mood for some math (it had been so long since I read some pop-math literature), and Zero seemed like the perfect tome. Unfortunately, Zero is a little TOO pop-math - it hits on the same "interesting" math and physics tidbits that so many other pop-math and science books do. And while it relates all of its ideas to zero, it's not really about zero.
The first half does talk about the historical context of the concept of zero, but it is mostly about philosophy - how the concepts of zero and infinity affected science and religion of the time. Just when I was hoping for some math, the book switches to a by-discipline survery of, again, math and phyiscs all-star fun factoids, including Fibonacci sequences, the golden ratio, set theory, numbers larger than infinity, wormholes, etc., etc. There were some ideas in there I had not read about before, like projective geometry, but for the most part, Hawking, Bryson, and popular math authors have covered this.
So, for me, it was rehash. If you have not read much pop-math, this book is very interesting, although it definitely requires a late-high school understanding of algebra and physics to make sense. If you are familiar with the genre, you've seen most of it before.

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